Category: Cronkite News

Lindsey Nelson Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 Arizona approved for cross-state bicycle route Colorado resident Stephanie Heitz and her friends often travel to Arizona to take advantage of the winter weather and do some long-distance bicycling. “We like to come here because in Colorado in the winter, it’s cold and you can’t ride,” she said. “Yet, here you’re still able to ride and keep your fitness up.” It’s a special kind of person who considers several days of long-distance bicycling a vacation. So, the Arizona Department of Transportation designated a cross-state bicycle route that would make the vacations for special people, like Heitz and her friends, much more enjoyable. Michael Sanders, ADOT’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, said the route will stretch 573 miles across Arizona from the California border to the New Mexico border. The roads were chosen to highlight Arizona’s natural attractions, but also to provide safe rides. “We were wanting to provide the long-distance bicyclists with a preferred route across Arizona that would link our metropolitan areas and traverse scenic, cultural, recreational areas of interest,” he said. The route was approved last week by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, designating it US Bicycle Route 90. Sanders said USBR 90 is a new addition to the nationwide interstate bicycle route systems. “There’s only a few states that have designations and most of those are East...

Chris Caraveo Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 Former Mercury star Gillom and Xavier reunite after five years apart Standing in the rotunda of Xavier’s Activity Center, Jennifer Gillom heard students say “superstar” and “famous” as they walked by her after the bell rang. “Not at all,” said Gillom, who played and coached in the WNBA and is in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. “Grandmama” was simply home. Gillom returned to Xavier College Preparatory in September as assistant varsity basketball coach, consultant to the basketball program and physical education instructor. This came five years after she departed as head coach of Xavier’s basketball team to focus on her coaching career in the WNBA and with USA Women’s Basketball. “My heart and my mind has always been here at Xavier, and I knew I always wanted to return. But the timing had to be right as well, and I felt like the time is now because it’s another challenging time,” Gillom said of a Gators program that had gone 18-37 the last two years. “They haven’t had a great season the last couple of years and the program is not where it used to be right now as far as basketball, and it’d be a great time to build it back up again.” If the past is any evidence, Gillom’s second stint with the Gators should go well. She began her...

Yahaira Jacquez Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 Big banks dominate lending market, but some small businesses find success with community banks For many small businesses, it’s not the idea they struggle with, it’s getting the money to fund it. Big banks approved about 22 percent of small-business loan requests nationwide in August, while small banks had a loan approval rate of 49 percent, according to Biz2Credit’s Small Business Lending Index . That’s one reason groups like Local First Arizona , a non-profit organization that promotes locally owned businesses, has made a push for local banks. Kimber Lanning, the group’s founder and director, said local banks will often send somebody down to look at a project to determine its merits. About a year ago, Kevin Danzeisen found himself looking for a loan to develop a milk-bottling facility in Laveen, a mile away from his family’s two dairy farms. The Danzeisens had a new concept in mind for the bottling facility: They wanted to bottle their milk in glass bottles. But the big banks weren’t in line with the idea, said Danzeisen, the general manager of Danzeisen Dairy. “It’s a unique business, nobody else was doing it,” Danzeisen said. “So you talk to people about the lending factor and people say, ‘Well, I don’t understand it.’” After about five months of searching, the Danzeisens found a bank willing to lend them money...

Genesis Monserrate Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015 U.S.-Mexico border residents battling obesity Mexico and the U.S. share an appetite for fast food that has both countries coping with obesity especially on the border. “You notice the children who are struggling with their weight and the parents are fat so it keeps repeating itself generation after generation,” said Jose Manuel Grijalva, a physical education teacher in Nogales, Mexico. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Mexico has caught up to the U.S. which regularly top the list of countries with high rates of obesity and large numbers of overweight adults and children. Nearly 70 percent of Mexicans are overweight; about a third are obese, according to the World Health Organization. The proliferation of U.S. fast food chains in Mexico and that country’s own craving for junk food is reflected in the soaring childhood obesity rates. “In the schools they sell them Sabritas potato chips,” said Samuel Guevara, a Nogales business owner. “They sell them Tostitos. They sell them all of that and a lot of soda.” The Mexican government has for years through a public awareness campaign that promoted a balanced and healthy diet but with limited results. “There’s a lot of explanation about the issue on...